News

China’s Bona Film and Japan’s Toei Animation have teamed to develop and co-produce big-budget English-language animation feature, “The Monkey Prince.” The film, which has already been in early preparation since 2015 is pitched as “a Chinese legend, mixed with Hollywood story-telling, and Japanese animation.”

John A Davis will direct from a script by David Stem and David N. Weiss, as an adaptation on the oft-told “Monkey King” story. Co-creator isNaoto Oshima (“Jimmy Neutron”) and Craig Elliot as head of design. Production is by Chuck Williams.

The picture also involves Japanese production company Sola Entertainment, Sammy and Marza Animation, Taiwan-based A Really Good Film Company, which is a run by Bona executive VP Jeffrey Chan and is an affiliate of Bona. Details of the project were announced Wednesday at Tiffcom, on the margins of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

It took 14 years after the smash success of “The Incredibles” for the sequel to appear but the wait was worth it. This continuation of the story was well-received by both critics (93 at Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences ($1.1 billion and counting). Can it parlay this success into an Oscar for Best Animated Feature?

The original film did just that, winning a tight race against “Shrek 2,” the sequel to the film that had won this award in its inaugural year (2001), and the box office smash “Shark Tale.” The latter was a surprise nominee, given that it merited a mere 35 score at Rotten Tomatoes. But it boasted an all-star voice cast including Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie, Renee Zellweger and Martin Scorsese. And it’s jukebox musical style made it one of the catchiest flicks of the year.

When preparing for the Ant-Man project, director Peyton Reed started watching all of the movies with shrinking in them that he could find. When he got to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, he immediately thought of a Rick Moranis cameo. Reed is currently out doing press for the recently released Ant-Man and the Wasp, which opened at number one at the box office over the weekend, becoming the 20th consecutive Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to go to number one.

In a new interview, Ant-Man and the Wasp director Peyton Reed talked about originally wanting Rick Moranis to cameo in the first film. Moranis has largely retired from acting, though he has done some voice work over the years, most recently lending his voice to The Goldbergs TV series, reprising his role as Dark Helmet from Spaceballs. He has also worked with Disney on the Brother Bear franchise as well. Reed

Annecy, France — Legendary Chinese director Stephen Chow, the man behind 2004’s dark-horse hit “Kung Fu Hustle,” is in development on ‘The Monkey King’ with Pearl Studio, the Shanghai-based animation company announced Thursday at the Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival.

The studio also unveiled that young actor Albert Tsai, Tensing Norgay Trainor, the grandson of Tensing Norgay, the first man to reach the summit of Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary, and Tsai Chin will be joining “Agents of Shield’s” Chloe Bennet in its upcoming feature “Abominable.”

The announcements came as Pearl detailed its upcoming slate of animated feature productions, backstory and ambitions, straight from the mouths of animation legends Jill Culton and Glen Keane.

Chow’s involvement was announced today at animation festival Annecy in France and represents an exciting collaboration for Pearl, which previously co-produced Kung Fu Panda 3. Chow has not been set as director.

Multi-hyphenate Chow’s directing credits include The Mermaid and Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons, both of which shattered Middle Kingdom box office records, as well as action-comedy Kung Fu Hustle, which grossed more than $100M worldwide as well as BAFTA and Golden Globe noms.

It's been a while, Rick Moranis! The Canadian comedian — famous for his roles in Ghostbusters, The Flintstones, and the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids films — is returning to our screens for the first time in 11 years. He'll reprise his Spaceballs character, the Darth Vader parody Dark Helmet, in the Wednesday, May 9 episode of ABC's 1980s-set sitcom The Goldbergs. The Goldbergs creator Adam F. Goldberg is thrilled by the casting coup. "I truly think Rick Moranis gave the most underrated and brilliant comedic performance in any '80s movie as Dark Helmet," Goldberg told ScreenCrush. "I've been a lifelong fan of his work and became obsessed with having him reprise the role on my show. As an added bonus, maybe this even gets Spaceballs back in the conversation and I can get my dream of helping make a sequel." via Giphy Granted, this Goldbergs gig is just a voice role

Rick Moranis is returning to acting for the first time since appearing in the 2007 television special “Rob & Doug McKenzie’s Two-Four Anniversary,” and he’s doing so by reprising one of his most famous comedic creations: Dark Helmet from “Spaceballs.” The actor will resurrect his Darth Vader knockoff for a cameo appearance in the May 9 episode of ABC’s sitcom “The Goldbergs.” Moranis’ voice will be featured as Dark Helmet.

“I truly think Rick Moranis gave the most underrated and brilliant comedic performance in any 80s movie as Dark Helmet,” “Goldbergs” creator Adam F. Goldberg told ScreenCrush. “I’ve been a lifelong fan of his work and became obsessed with having him reprise the role on my show. As an added bonus, maybe this even gets ‘Spaceballs’ back in the conversation and I can get my dream of helping make a sequel.”

After winning three Academy Awards and establishing himself as one of the world's greatest living actors, Daniel Day-Lewis issued a statement last week announcing that he was retiring from acting, and that the film he recently completed, director Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread, would be his last film performance.

The decision came as a shock to fans of the 60-year-old actor and father of three, many of whom feel like he has a lot more to offer in the way of brilliant performances. However, he's far from the first star to retire before his or her time. Here's a look at just a few major stars, throughout the history of Hollywood, who have walked away from their careers in search of something different.

Watch: Daniel Day-Lewis Announces Retirement From Acting, Final Film 'Phantom Thread' to Premiere This Christmas

Rick Moranis doesn’t think of himself as retired, but with has last feature film performance being a voice in the 2003 animated feature Brother Bear (followed by a straight to video sequel), the Ghostbusters and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids star has certainly been out of the limelight for a long time now. That’s why […]

Beauty and the Beast is in theaters this weekend, and it's the umpteenth time Disney has rebooted one of their animated classics with a live-action cast. The movie has already made bank it its opening day, and Disney isn't about to stop this trend anytime soon. There are live-action reboots of Aladdin, Dumbo, and the Little Mermaid all in various stages of production right now. And more are expected to be announced before the year is over. But there is one movie you can scratch off the list. And that's the 2013 blockbuster smash hit Frozen.

Disney has its fair share of detractors, but few of them would point to the animation studio’s craft when criticizing the occasional sameness of its fairy tales and princess stories. Video essayist Jorge Luengo Ruiz has put together a six-minute video highlighting some of the best shots from more than 40 animated Disney offerings, from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” all the way to last year’s “Moana.” Both the video and a list of the featured movies are below. (via Film School Rejects)

A young woman uses her navigational talents to set sail for a fabled island. Joining her on the adventure is her hero, the legendary demi-god Maui.

Ron Clements and John Musker largely define the millennials’ idea of Disney. Having directed The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules, they are integral to the modern Disney catalogue. And for the last few years, co-directors Don Hall and Chris Williams (Oscar-winners for Big Hero 6) have helped keep Disney on top of their game. As a group of creative minds, Moana was due to be a shining example of what Disney can do, and it most certainly is. It brings together all the right ingredients to maintain that winning formula. It isn’t attempting anything different,

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture: Movie Studio Showcase of the Day: Get pumped for Captain America: Civil War with this great supercut of the best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (via Live for Films): Casting Depiction of the Day: Speaking of the McU, Nathan Fillion was revealed this week to be playing Wonder Man in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, so here's BossLogic's depiction of what he could look like: Reworked Movie of the Day: What if The Revenant was a Disney animated feature? It might look like this redone trailer using footage from Brother Bear (via Cinematic Montage Creators): Location Vacation of the Day: Relax to the sights and sounds of Dagobah in this 94-minute...

We've already talked today about the April Fools' Day video that Disney/Pixar released, but now ScreenRant has one that points out some of the Easter Eggs you might not have noticed in Disney animated features. I've never heard about a few of these (then again, I've never even seen Brother Bear, let alone heard it had a Finding Nemo connection), so maybe you'll learn something new. That's cool about the tie between Paperman and Wreck-It Ralph — I love both of those films.

Igor Khait, an animation producer whose credits include Gnomeo & Juliet and the upcoming feature Sing, died Monday of pancreatic cancer at his Los Angeles home. He was 52. After launching his career at Amblin Entertainment in 1989, Khait served as production manager on the toon features Bebe's Kids (1992), Quest for Camelot (1998) and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). His next gig was as associate producer on Disney’s Brother Bear, which earned an Oscar nom for Best…

In 1997, actor Rick Moranis made the really respectful and admirable choice of leaving acting after his wife had passed away from cancer in order to focus more on raising their kids. Since he essentially “retired,” Moranis has done some voice acting in animated films like Brother Bear and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys, but he’s really been out of the limelight since hitting it big in the 80s and 90s with movies like Parenthood and, obviously, Ghostbusters. With the news coming out weeks ago that the creators of Ghostbusters want to make a third

When the highly-anticipated Ghostbusters reboot hits theaters next year, fans will get to see the original stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver in cameo roles, portraying completely different characters. One of the original stars who won't be coming back is Rick Moranis, who hasn't appeared in an on-screen role since 1997's Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. During a wide-ranging interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor debunked rumors that he has retired, adding that Paul Feig offered him a cameo in his Ghostbusters reboot, but he wasn't interested.

"I wish them well. I hope it's terrific. But it just makes no sense to me. Why would I do just one day of shooting on something I did 30 years ago? I took a break, which turned into a longer break. But I'm interested in anything that I would find interesting. I still get the occasional query about a film or television role,

IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.